Sunday, July 26, 2009

An Adirondack Stream Side Picnic

What could be lovelier than to finish the day by a cool Adirondack stream, with fishing pole in hand and some excellent company?

Summer is a fleeting season here in upstate New York and we like to take advantage of being outside and feeling the sun and wind on our skin (under a little sunscreen of course) as much as possible. July and August are also our two busiest months at the bookshop, between the larger crowds of summer customers and numerous calls to buy and haul new inventory. We also try to get out in the garden each day for a little bit to prune, weed, harvest or mulch. Add the juggling of two teenagers on summer vacation in the mix and you can see that we are kept on the go through this summer blur.

It takes conscious effort to step away from all of these obligations and just relax in our beautiful part of the world, and so it was without a heartbeat of hesitation that I agreed to my husband's suggestion that we pack up a picnic and our trusty hound for a quick ride up into the Adirondacks for a streamside evening of fishing and relaxing. Our two daughters wanted none of our romantic date, so that was all the better. Solo time with my man, whoa! What a concept.

We headed out towards Warrensburg, an interesting village in Warren County where they host what is billed as the World's Largest Garage Sale in October, but which we like for the electic mix of Victorian homes, antique shops, and stately trees and flowers planted in almost every front yeard. Our favorite fishing spot will remain our little secret as we don't want to run into anyone when we're trying to decompress. Suffice it to say that it is due north of Warrensburg, on a cool, leafy dirt road, where every bend in the stream is a Sierra Club photo opportunity.

Those northern mosquitos were as ravenous as we were when we arrived, so we slathered up with bug hats (ball caps loaded with insect repellent) and even sprayed the canopies of our folding chairs, while Dan pulled on the waders and broke out his fishing equipment. I concentrated on not having my 80-lb. mutt Martha knock me into the stream while rock hopping.

So you ask, what did we bring on this gluten-free picturesque picnic? Enough fishing foreplay, let's discuss the food. It was quite simple, really, and it was extra-succulent because our little picnic was so impromptu. We basically just ransacked the kitchen and slapped together a feast of tuna fish sandwiches on Dan's homemade GF rolls with home grown lettuce, homemade refrigerator pickles on the side, some carrot sticks with radish dip from the last of our spring crop, and the greasy remains of a bag of potato chips. All of this was washed down with a couple of cute little bottles of Sutter Home Pinot Grigio that we picked up in a Warrensburg liquor store on the ride in. A memorable meal made so not from the simplicity of our hastily gathered ransacking of the kitchen, but by the elegant, cool greenery and soothing rushing water accompaniment of our venue.

3 comments:

Rachel, we were just in Warrensburg last weekend. Spent my birthday in Lake George, but a cousin has a home in Warrensburgh. I love the Adirondacks, as I've said before, and was busy looking at properties or would have stopped in at the bookstore again. Great photos and wonderful prose. I love your posts.

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This blog is an original work of creative expression by Rachel Jagareski. All photos, text, and original recipes herein are copyrighted by the author/artist Rachel Jagareski (c) 2007-2014. All rights are reserved by the author. Please contact me for permission to republish or broadcast any material beyond your own personal use. Thank you.